


the language of love

by intothewoodz



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, I'm not entirely sure how to tag this, Language Barrier, M/M, Sleeptalking, it's a little bit ridiculous but i promise it's cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25083040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intothewoodz/pseuds/intothewoodz
Summary: Hangyul knows that Seungyoun is a linguistic genius. He also knows that his boyfriend has a tendency to occasionally talk in his sleep. Unfortunately, just knowing these two things doesn't help whatsoever in trying to figure out what exactly his boyfriend is saying when he does sleep talk in foreign languages, but Hangyul is determined to somehow find out.
Relationships: Cho Seungyeon | Seungyoun/Lee Hangyul
Comments: 16
Kudos: 53





	the language of love

**Author's Note:**

> alskfj i've had this idea for ages but writing it was a lot harder than i expected??? but i hope you enjoy!!!
> 
> also tiny disclaimer, if the portuguese or chinese is off, please forgive me T^T i used google translate for the portuguese and the chinese is from my own horrible chinese skills that deteriorate by the second so.... yeah i apologize if it's not accurate

Hangyul knows that his boyfriend is a linguistic genius, being able to speak four languages after studying abroad in various countries. He also knows from the first couple times he slept over that he sometimes talks in his sleep. Still, knowing these two things, doesn’t help whatsoever in trying to figure out what exactly his boyfriend is saying when he sleep talks in aforementioned foreign languages.

Today is another one of those days when Hangyul wakes up to the sound of Seungyoun softly muttering something in his sleep. Luckily for him, this time it is actually in Korean so he thinks he makes out the words “hungry” and “pizza.” Hangyul can’t help the soft chuckle that escapes him, captivated by how adorable his boyfriend is.

It’s Saturday and neither of them have anything to do, so he decides to let Seungyoun sleep in a bit longer. He also just doesn’t want to go through the process of waking him up because it can be exhausting, usually requiring him to physically drag him out of bed.

Still, his own stomach starts to grumble, and if the words Seungyoun was mumbling in his sleep are anything to go by, he’ll probably also be hungry when he wakes up, so Hangyul gets out of bed and goes to make something for breakfast.

He’s just about finished making a stack of pancakes when Seungyoun emerges from their bedroom. “I’m surprised you’re already up.”

“It was cold without you,” he complains.

“I made pancakes,” Hangyul says, transferring the last one onto the plate.

“You’re the best. I love you so much.” Seungyoun walks over to wrap his arms around him in a tight hug and exaggeratedly place kisses all over his faces.

“Okay, I get it, I’m the best, so you can stop now.”

“I was so hungry.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Seungyoun tilts his head to the side in question.

“You were mumbling in your sleep again and you said something about pizza.”

“Oh, sorry,” he says, slightly embarrassed.

“Don’t be. I think it’s cute.”

“Shut up,” he huffs.

“Is that any way to be talking to the person who made you pancakes?” Hangyul had just been about to slide the plate in front of him, but withdraws it to tease him.

“No, wait, I’m sorry! You’re the best boyfriend in the world and I love you so much. Please give me pancakes.”

“You only care about the food,” Hangyul scoffs, handing him the plate anyway.

“Tha’s no’ true!” he says, though it comes out muffled having already taken a bite. “I care about you too!”

Hangyul rolls his eyes at him, finally taking a bite of his own pancakes as well. “What do you wanna do today?”

“Hmm, we can go see a movie?

“I don’t think there’s anything good in the theatres right now.”

“Then, how about we just walk around the park or something?”

“I think it’s supposed to rain later.”

“Fine,” Seungyoun says, exasperated. “Since you don’t like any of my suggestions, what do _you_ want to do?”

“I don’t care. We can do anything.”

“You can’t just reject all my ideas and then claim that we can do anything!”

“Technically, I never rejected them. I was just stating facts,” Hangyul counters. “If you want us to go all the way to the theatre to sit through some terribly written movie or if you want us to walk around in the rain and get soaked, then I’m okay with that. As long as it’s with you.”

“Since when were you this cheesy?”

“I learned it all from you, hyung. You only have yourself to blame,” he teases.

In the end, they don’t end up going anywhere, hiding away from the rain in their apartment. It’s not the most glamorous of dates, sharing whatever leftovers are in the fridge while rewatching one of their favorite movies together, but neither of them seem to care.

* * *

Despite having had this habit for a long time, Seungyoun’s sleep talking isn’t usually that frequent, only happening every once in a while. It often correlates to how stressed out he is, so Hangyul is surprised and a little bit worried when a few days later he wakes up to the sound of his boyfriend’s mumbled words.

This time, he’s not so lucky though, because it’s in English.

“ _You mean the world to me.”_

Hangyul recognizes the words “you” and “me” but not much of the in between and it’s moments like these that he really regrets not studying foreign languages harder back in school. Still, even if he doesn’t know English, he knows someone who does.

He makes a mental reminder to call his brother later because it’s been a while since he checked up on him, but more importantly, he happens to be fluent in English.

When he gets home after work that day, Seungyoun isn’t home yet so he figures it's the perfect opportunity to call. It doesn't take long because Dohyon picks up the phone after a couple of rings.

“What do you want, hyung?”

“Yah! You’re so disrespectful! I can’t just check up on my baby brother because I’m worried?”

“I’m not a baby! You usually check up on me through text and call when you need something. Am I wrong?”

“Okay, I do have a question for you _this time_ , but that’s not always the case!”

“Sure, whatever you say hyung. So what do you want?”

“Can you translate something from English for me?”

“Sure, what is it? Couldn’t you have just texted me that? Or googled it?”

“So the thing is, I don’t know _exactly_ what the words are, I just kinda overheard it.”

“That doesn't make any sense.”

“Don’t question it and just help me! I think it was “ _you mean to me”_ or something like that.”

“Are you being rude to someone, hyung?”

“What? No, why?”

“Because that’s basically what you just said. ‘Mean’ is like, rude, the opposite of nice.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Hangyul says, trying to piece it together in his head to no avail. Has he been mean to his boyfriend lately?

“Hyung, you’re the one who’s not making any sense. I’m hanging up.”

“Brat,” he scoffs. “But thanks, Dohyonnie. I’ll buy you food soon.”

“You better,” he says before abruptly ending the call, leaving Hangyul back with the puzzle.

Is Seungyoun upset with him? He really doesn’t think so. His boyfriend is usually so transparent with his emotions and he doesn't think he’d be able to hide it if he was unhappy with Hangyul for any reason. Besides, Hangyul really doesn’t think he’s given him a reason to be upset either. Sure, he teases him sometimes, but they both do it and have been doing it for forever. Hangyul doesn’t think he’s been acting any differently and he even made him pancakes a few days ago. He’s been anything but mean!

Confused and unable to draw any conclusions, he figures he might’ve misheard it. Still, he sighs, feeling defeated for some reason.

Though he thinks he probably misinterpreted whatever Seungyoun was saying this time, it does seem like his boyfriend has something on his mind recently. The fact that he’s sleep talking more frequently acts as further evidence that he’s probably stressed about something and Hangyul wonders why Seungyoun hasn’t said anything. They’ve always told each other everything.

He knows it's ridiculous, but he can’t help but wonder if maybe he really has done something wrong. It just doesn’t sit right with him. Still, he tries his best to push his doubts aside before Seungyoun comes home.

* * *

The sleep talking has happened a few more times since then, switching between languages each time. If it weren’t so frustrating to try and decode what he’s saying, Hangyul would be really impressed by Seungyoun’s linguistic skills. He wishes he had the same ability, now more than ever.

Today though, Hangyul has a plan. He’s going to record it and use the speech function on a translating app. It might not be the most trustworthy, but he figures it must at least be better than him trying to remember and regurgitate foreign words whose meaning he has no clue of, if his attempt at asking Dohyon is anything to go by.

That night, Seungyoun falls asleep first and Hangyul is ready to execute his plan. He must be tired because it doesn’t take long for him to fall into a deep slumber, which is both worrying because Hangyul doesn’t know what’s making his boyfriend so exhausted, but also a relief because it means he won’t have to wait as long. When he finally hears Seungyoun start to mumble, he’s ready with his phone and immediately presses the record button.

"Você é minha pessoa favorita."

Though he can’t actually cheer, for obvious reasons, he internally celebrates his triumph and puts his phone down to deal with it in the morning, snuggling closer to Seungyoun and letting himself drift off to sleep as well.

When Hangyul finds some time alone the next day, he excitedly prepares the most reliable online translator that he can find and plays the recording for it to hear. His excitement, however, doesn’t last for very long because it doesn’t work at all.

He tries every single website that he can find that offers the audio translating function, but not a single one provides him with usable results. Whether it’s from the poor quality of his phone microphone or the fact that Seungyoun’s speech is mumbled from sleep, the sound just doesn’t seem to get picked up correctly. The translator either doesn’t recognize the words at all or spits out some gibberish.

After a valiant number of tries, Hangyul sighs in defeat. There’s another idea thrown out the window.

Closing his laptop in frustration, he goes to find something else to occupy himself with until he can think of a better solution.

* * *

This time, Hangyul is determined to get it right. He’s crossed out online translators from his list of options because they clearly did not work, but he thinks the recording may still have promise. If Seungyoun sleep talks in English, then he can just send the file to Dohyon to translate.

Things don’t go exactly according to plan though, because the next time Seungyoun sleep talks, it’s not English that Seungyoun happens to use.

“我想永远在你身边。嫁给我吧？”

Sighing in defeat, Hangyul saves the recording regardless and debates his next plan of action. He could just wait until the next time that Seungyoun sleep talks in English in hopes that it will give something away. Still, he doesn’t know when that will be and it’s getting progressively harder to hide the fact that he’s troubled by something from Seungyoun. His boyfriend reads him like an open book just as easily as Hangyul does to him.

Then, all of a sudden, it hits him. He can ask Yibo. He had met him through dance classes back in college and he happened to be a mutual friend of him and Seungyoun. It would be perfect.

Still, when he does send over the recording along with an explanation of his request, the phone call he gets in response does not play out exactly as he imagined it to.

“I listened to the recording you asked me to,” Yibo says as soon as the call connects.

“And? Hurry up and tell me what it means!” Hangyul admits he might be being a little impatient and feels apologetic towards Yibo for it, but he doesn’t understand why he would prolong his suffering when he clearly knows.

“I think you should ask him about it yourself,” Yibo laughs.

“What? What does that mean?”

“Just trust me. It’s not something you should hear through me.”

“That sounds bad. You’re scaring me.”

“I promise it’s a good thing.”

“If you say so,” he says hesitantly, unable to imagine any scenario where that would be a good thing. It’s like when someone tell you “we need to talk” and your brain automatically jumps to the worst conclusion. The words are inherently intimidating.

“I can literally feel your nervousness through the phone and I’m telling you to stop.”

“It’s not that easy!”

“Fine. If you won’t trust me about it, then trust _him._ ”

Oh. That makes sense.

It’s not that Hangyul doesn’t trust Yibo, but he can’t help worrying. Still, despite all his insecurities, he does trust Seungyoun. He would probably trust him with his life. Trusting Seungyoun is something he can do.

“Okay,” he says, with slightly more confidence than before. “I’ll bring it up soon.”

“You better,” Yibo says. Hangyul thinks it’s supposed to come off as threatening, but it’s not very effective since he knows exactly how much of a softie Yibo is, despite his initially cold appearance.

“I said okay!”

“Tell me how it goes. I’ll talk to you soon” Yibo chuckles, before hanging up the call.

Hangyul sighs, right back to where he started. He bitterly thinks that Yibo could’ve at least given him some sort of idea for what to expect.

When Seungyoun gets home, Hangyul is still unsure of how to approach the situation. He wonders if he should try and wait for a better opportunity or if he should just come right out and ask.

Hangyul doesn’t think he’s being obvious, but maybe it’s a testament to how in tune Seungyoun is with him that his boyfriend quickly notices that something is on his mind.

“Is something wrong, Gyul?”

“There’s nothing wrong!” he quickly reassures, noticing the worried look on Seungyoun’s face. Hangyul pauses a moment, taking a deep breath, because he knows this is his chance. “But there is something I wanted to ask you about.”

“Hmm?”

“You’ve been sleep talking a lot recently.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize. Does it bother you?”

“No! That’s not what I meant, I’m just worried. It usually doesn’t happen this frequently unless you're really stressed, so I thought maybe something was bothering you.”

“Oh, um, nothing’s wrong!” Seungyoun says, a little too intensely.

“Okay, but you know that you can tell me anything right? I’m always here if you are worried about something.” Hangyul hesitates slightly before adding, “Especially if that something involves me.”

“W-what do you mean?” Seungyoun seems uncharacteristically nervous and it makes Hangyul nervous in turn. The longer this goes on, the more it does seem like his boyfriend is hiding something from him and he still has no clue what it is.

“You’ve said my name before, but then you switch into Chinese or Portuguese and I have no clue what you’re saying,” he explains. “Are you mad at me? Am I doing something wrong?”

“No! Of course not!” Seungyoun takes a step closer to him, caressing his cheek gently in comfort. “Why would you think that?”

“One time when you said something in English, I asked Dohyon to translate for me and he said it was something about me being rude to you. And just yesterday, you said something in Chinese and I asked Yibo for help and he wouldn’t even tell me what it was. He told me to talk to you myself,” Hangyul whines, still not having any clue why he had insisted on it being this way.

“Aww, babe, I didn’t realize,” Seungyoun laughs.

Hangyul can’t believe his boyfriend has the audacity to laugh at his struggles, brushing off Seungyoun’s hand from his cheek in annoyance. “Don’t laugh at me!”

“I’m sorry,” Seungyoun says, though he’s still laughing even as he does.

At least one of them is having a good time because Hangyul is not at all amused and continues to dodge Seungyoun’s arms that keep trying to pull him back into his hold.

“Gyul, please, I said I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not. You’re still laughing.”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry, I’ll be serious.” He maintains a serious expression for approximately three seconds before he breaks into a smile once more.

“I can’t believe you,” Hangyul scoffs.

“I’m trying my best! I can’t help it, you’re just too cute.”

“I’m not cute!”

After much resistance from Hangyul, Seungyoun finally succeeds in catching him, this time using both hands to cup his face. Seungyoun’s grip is gentle but secure, clearly not wanting to let Hangyul to escape him a second time.

“I’m sorry that I made you worry for that long,” Seungyoun says and there’s still a small smile on his face, but Hangyul can tell that he’s being serious this time. “But I promise you that you’ve done nothing wrong. I don’t have a single complaint. You’re perfect.”

“Then, why?”

“Why what?”

“What have you been thinking about so much that you keep talking about it in your sleep? What was so serious that Yibo wouldn’t tell me what you said? Just tell me what it is,” he pleads, the questions tumbling out after weeks of confusion and pent up frustration at how he couldn’t figure it out.

“This isn’t exactly how I planned to tell you, but I guess there’s no time like the present.”

“Stop stalling.”

“Don't rush me! I need to do this right!”

“You’re not making any sense,” Hangyul scoffs. He’s more confused than ever and it’s really starting to frustrate him.

“You’re so impatient,” Seungyoun chuckles and he’s met with a glare from his boyfriend. “But it’s cute, like when you get so excited about things that you literally start vibrating with energy because you can't contain it. It’s one of the things I love about you.”

“W-what’s with you all of a sudden?” Hangyul feels a slight blush on his cheeks, not having expected the sudden declaration of love.

“Don’t interrupt me! And get used to it because there’s more where that came from.” He clears his throat, more for dramatic effect than for anything else, before continuing on, “I know it sounds cheesy, but ever since I met you, I knew that you were special. Remember when we first starting hanging out and everyone assumed we had known each other for ages?”

“Yeah, they thought we were childhood friends or something because we were so in sync,” he says, smiling fondly at the memory as the nostalgia washes over him. It’s been years since then, since he first met Seungyoun, but it barely feels like it. After all, time flies when you’re having fun and there really isn’t ever a dull moment when they’re together.

“Exactly. You can make fun of me for saying all this cheesy stuff, but I always felt like we were just meant to be. I love waking up next to you and I love coming home to you and I just love being with you. Hangyul, you make me so unbelievably happy and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Hangyul finally feels like he knows where this is going, all the pieces finally clicking into place, but he doesn’t know for sure. “Seungyoun, are you—”

“I said not to interrupt me! You really don’t want to make this easy for me, do you?” he laughs. “I’m already nervous enough without you making it harder.”

He laughs back, the apprehension that he’s been feeling all this time suddenly disappears completely and he’s left with nothing but joy. “Maybe it’s my revenge after you made me worry about this for weeks.”

“Fine. As I was about to say,” Seungyoun continues with an exasperated sigh, “Lee Hangyul, will you marry me?”

“Hmm, I think I need some time to think about it,” Hangyul teases, his bright smile and laughter giving away that he’s not at all serious, but Seungyoun doesn’t seem amused.

“Don’t joke around! Do you even know how much I worried about this?” he whines.

“Actually, I do know because you kept mumbling about it in your sleep and you made me just as worried!” Hangyul retorts. “Besides, you’re such an idiot for worrying at all.”

“Yah!”

“It’s true though! How could you doubt me like that? How could I possibly say anything other than yes?”

The question is mostly rhetorical, but Seungyoun barely has any time to even process the words, let alone think about answering, before Hangyul connects their lips in a kiss.

Seungyoun melts into it, arms naturally coming to wrap around Hangyul’s neck. He makes a small noise of protest when Hangyul breaks the kiss. Still, Hangyul doesn’t pull away completely, instead leaning his head forward to touch their foreheads together as he shoots him a bright smile.

“I love you, you idiot,” he says with so much adoration that “idiot” suddenly feels like a term of endearment. “I can’t believe you made both of us worried for this.”

“I just wanted it to be perfect.”

“It is perfect.” Hangyul presses a quick kiss to the corner of Seungyoun’s mouth. “It’s perfect because it’s you.”

“Because it’s us,” Seungyoun corrects, claiming Hangyul’s lips in a kiss of his own, a proper one this time.

When they break apart, Hangyul takes a moment to stare at his boyfriend—no—fiancé as he tries to wrap his head around the fact that they’re engaged.

“What?” Seungyoun asks, confused by his sudden silence and strong gaze.

“It’s nothing,” he smiles. Nothing, of course, except for the fact that he’s going to be married to the love of his life.

* * *

Later that night, as they lie in bed together, Hangyul snuggles up against Seungyoun’s side, nuzzling his head into the crevice of his neck.

“I better not hear more sleep talking tonight,” Hangyul mumbles sleepily.

“Hey! You know I can’t help it!”

“I know, I know. It’s cute, but I hate that I can’t understand what you’re saying sometimes.”

“Afraid that I’m secretly complaining about you?”

Hangyul’s eyes are closed, but he delivers a light punch to the position that he estimates to be Seungyoun’s chest.

“You should teach me how to say something in Portugese. Or English or Chinese.”

“What do you want to learn how to say then?”

“Teach me how to say I love you.”

“Eu te amo. _I love you_. 我爱你.”

“Eu te amo. _I love you_. 我爱你,” Hangyul repeats. It comes out accented and the tones are completely off, but it doesn’t matter. Whether he says it using every language in the world or he says nothing at all, the feelings are delivered just the same.

Some things don't need to be put into words.

**Author's Note:**

> if you made it here, thank you for reading!!!!!
> 
> the portuguese is supposed to say "you're my favorite person" (i really could not think of anything alsdkf) and the chinese is supposed to be "i always want to be by your side, marry me?" but once again, google translate + limited chinese capability
> 
> i really really liked this idea when it first came to me but honestly, i'm not sure if i'm 100% satisfied with the execution T^T but i didn't want it to sit in my drafts forever so, here we are... i hope it was ok!!! (also i have no clue why i keep writing about proposals lately????)
> 
> anyway, i'd be very happy if you left me a comment or kudos! or come find me on twt @wooloodz


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